MP calls for ethnic school twinning. (From Dorset Echo)

MP calls for ethnic school twinning.

6:00pm Tuesday 8th May 2007

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A PORTLAND school is hoping to set up a pioneering twinning project to help pupils learn more about ethnic minorities.

Schools minister Jim Knight is looking to partner the Royal Manor Arts College with a school near the London Olympics site for a scheme that he hopes will set an example for the nation to follow.

The Royal Manor Arts College was recently rated 'outstanding' for religious education in its Ofsted report but South Dorset MP Mr Knight said he was concerned about pupils in areas where they had very little experience of people from ethnic minorities.

Mr Knight said at the National Association of Head Teachers' annual conference in Bournemouth: "Every school - whatever its intake and wherever it is located - is responsible for educating young people who will live and work in a country which is diverse in terms of culture, faith, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

"The staff and pupil populations at some schools reflect this diversity, allowing pupils to mix with those from different backgrounds.

"For other schools, where the pupil population is less diverse, more needs to be done to provide opportunities for interaction between different backgrounds."

Director of learning for RE at the Royal Manor Arts College Angus Dawson is excited about the prospects the new scheme will bring.

He said: "It's a brilliant idea. Down here we are by and large Anglo Saxon Christians and students don't get exposure to different ways of life and thinking about what's important.

"It will broaden kids' horizons and give us a real tangible link with multi-ethnic communities."

Mr Dawson added that children's awareness of other cultures would become even more important in the years ahead.

"They need to be prepared, with the influx of people from all parts of the world because of the Olympics. It's going to raise all sorts of issues."

The project will initially see the pupils from the two schools forging links via the internet but Mr Dawson also talked about the possibility about taking the project further.

"It would be a case of us using the highway of ideas and setting up web space for the kids to communicate.

"In the short term it's about making contact. In the medium term there is no reason why we couldn't start trying exchanges."

Head of RE at All Saints School Kathryn Playle said: "It does sound like an interesting idea, obviously pupils down in this part of the country have very little chance to meet people from ethnic minorities. Any opportunity they have can only be beneficial."

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